Thriller
by Calico Yorki
Summary: Yes, I'm hemorrhaging unoriginality in titles, ain't I? Basically, this is the result of me waiting until 1 AM-ish to take my medicine and writing in that state. I learned the hard way to read some parts of this with a light on.
1. Chapter One: Welcome to My Nightmare

**Author's Notes: ...**

**So then I thought, "Jinx is adorable, and she definitely belongs with the Titans, so that's good." And then I thought, "I really like putting her into stories with Raven and the other girls," and then I thought, "Humor/Horror is so rare!"**

**AND HERE WE ARE**

**Enjoy!**

... ... ...

When Raven woke up, she realized that a slender arm was draped over her. Eyes rapidly flicking to look down, she realized that it was Terra. _Terra_. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Raven tried to speak to comfort her, but it felt like her lips were sewn shut. Right now, Terra was trying to force herself to say something.

"I'm...I'm...So...Sorry, hik, hik, ooogh..." She was still in her torn and beaten armor from Slade. "I could have...Been...With you all...And I...I...And now..." A low, piteous moan broke out of her. "I threw it all away...And...I can never have it back...I'll never have friends like you again...I've ruined everything..." At last, Raven found her voice.

Exasperatedly, she said, "Terra, please, calm down. I don't know how you got here, but we've all forgiven you. Slade took control of you." Terra was shaking her head, causing Raven's brow to furrow. "What's wrong? What's keeping you from joining us again?" Then, she heard the most horrible noise she'd ever heard.

Terra, cackling like a little madwoman. She was shaking spastically, laughter picking up in frequency. Raven only had time to realize that her bed was surrounded by endless void when Terra spoke in an unnaturally shirll voice. "You should know why, you idiot!"

For the first time, she looked up at Raven. Her mouth was streaming blood, her face was pale and waxy like candle wax, crisscrossed with scars, and her eyes - Oh God, her _eyes_ - They were just soulless black pits that ate into Raven's perception.

"_I'm deeeaaad!_"

... ... ...

"_**No!**_"

Slick with a cold sweat, Raven flinched up and looked around. When she felt a thin arm around her chest, Raven gave a low, quavering moan and tried to fight her way out. When the mess of pink hair came into view, then the pale white face, then the concerned, catlike pink orbs, Raven remembered that she had been sharing her room last night. "Jinx, oh, oh thank God, it's you, Jinx," Raven whimpered, holding onto her.

Jinx just let Raven hold onto her, breathing raggedly. In time, Raven mustered up the courage to tell the girl what had happened in her dream. When she tried to describe Terra's face, however, shivering wracked her body and she was unable to continue. Jinx just ran her fingers through Raven's indigo locks, murmuring softly, calmingly. What followed was the most precious hug and pap-pap-shoosh-off this side of Jump City.

Once Raven felt up to it, Jinx led her out of her room and down the hall. The very first streaks of pale blue sunlight were running across the horizon, and Raven realized that none of the boys were there. Into the living room she walked, finding Starfire, Kole, and Cheshire there. Now, where oh _where_ had she last been a part of this little ensemble? Was it on that confounded island where her mind was invaded by a sticky alien lecher? No, it was on the mission to Aylesbury. And _that_ had just been a fan-tucking-fastic mission, hands down.

It occurred to her that perhaps memories from Aylesbury were the source of her delightful little night terrors. Well, at least none of the boys were there. Robin would advise some kind of method he had learned to repress nightmares that involved ancient herbs that he happened to save from one of his and Batman's training missions in Nepal and healing water from the mystical mountain springs of _I Really Do Not Care Robin. _Cyborg would recommend waffles - ...So, okay, yeah, that _would_ help, but then she'd have to share. And Beast Boy would give her those eyes that stuck in her chest worse than even his puppy or kitten eyes, those eyes of childlike, innocent care and concern that made her want to hug him and tell him she'd be just fine and her chest was fluttering what the hell was that.

By now, Cheshire had walked up to Raven and was staring up at her. Raven sighed. "Don't worry, Cheshire," she droned. "I'm just contemplating my dreams last night. Now that we're all here, I can entertain you with books. I will take you to places you've never been before, untold lands of boredom and humdrum." She stared down at Cheshire, who seemed startled. "No, don't be afraid, that whole thing where I almost ended the world was all a misunderstanding." Tears of blood streamed from her eyes. "_Give your soul to my undying father._" All returned to normal just as abruptly.

By now, Starfire and Kole were clinging to each other for dear life. Shivering, Cheshire stumbled over to Jinx and fell against her. "Raven, look what you did, you made Cheshire cry. Good job! I've been trying to do that ever since she started stealing my bikini back on that island, hahah!" Cheshire got up from her and went to pile on top of Starfire and Kole's little ball of fear. Jinx sighed towards her. "Okay, Raven, what's really wrong?"

Raven was reading a book at the kitchen table by now. "The really honest thing to say is that I don't know, Jinx." Something changed imperceptibly about her. "I can't figure out what's wrong with me, right now. I'm scared." A voice whispered the last two words from below the floors. "I'm terrified, honestly." Little scratching noises could be heard in the walls. As Jinx watched idly, blood began seeping through the walls.

The streams of blood spelled out the words: _**Raven Will Be Blamed For Nothing.**_ An eye opened on the wall behind Raven, and spun to glare at Jinx and the others. Jinx stared back flatly, while Starfire, Kole, and Cheshire were now ducked with their heads down. Raven's hair was beginning to spin in an indigo halo behind her head, and dull, dark gray energy was pulsing around her eyes. Calmly, Jinx got up and strolled over to her. "Hey Ray-Ray!"

Raven spun, about to tell her not to call her that, when Jinx grabbed her by the collar of her cape, eyes ablaze. "_BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET THE HELL OVER IT! YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE THE OTHER GIRLS A HEART ATTACK AND YOU ARE BEING A BABY! STOP IT __**NOW!**_" Her teeth had grown into huge fangs, and Raven suddenly felt like she was a tiny child.

All of the frightening effects disappeared. Raven's hair was askew, and she was now trembling with a new fear. With more pap-pap-shooshes, Jinx kept her calmed down. The other girls shakily peeked over the top of the couch. All seemed to be returning to normal.

Yet what they did not know was that a little slice of hell was coming their way.

It was going to be a wild day.


	2. Chapter Two: In the Dark

After Jinx managed to calm Raven down, the sorceress found the gazes of her fellow Titans burning holes into her from all around. There was no way they were going to let her go without explaining herself. _The things I do for love and friendship_, she thought sourly to herself.

"Alright," she finally caved, "I'll tell you all about my nightmare. I warn you, though, it's not going to make any of you feel better." They all were immediately sat at the kitchen table with her, gazing at her expectantly - Save for Jinx, who was flipping through the TV channels. "Yeah, thanks Jinx, you're a true friend through and through," Raven sniped her way. The pinkette just stopped on some anime channel and focused on the TV. With a sigh, Raven began explaining her nightmare.

It didn't take a long time to detail it, but by the time she was finished, all of the other girls looked incredibly saddened - Especially Starfire, which caused a twinge of regret in Raven's chest. "So...Yeah," she finished lamely. "That's the long and short of my nightmare. I don't know what it could mean, except that my powers of empathy could be reacting to something. I'd prefer not to talk about it anymore." At that moment, Jinx gave a whoop of approval from the hero of her current show punching the bad guy straight into the ground. "Jinx, _seriously_." Raven tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and opened her book again.

Once Raven was done explaining, the other girls left her vicinity. Raven was quite glad for that. She appreciated them trying to help, but this was the kind of thing that the gloomy girl seriously doubted they could actually give her assistance with understanding. What was confusing her now was the location of this particular book, right in the kitchen. It was a book Raven had gotten from an alien spellcaster the Teen Titans had saved from a bounty hunter, and detailed the nature of dreams and nightmares. What perplexed her was that it had been sitting out on the kitchen counter, when Raven plainly remembered tucking it into her shelf for later reading.

_No matter_, she thought to herself, opening it back to her last page and removing the bookmark. _At least it's here when I need it._ She flipped through until she reached a portion of the second half - Devoted to nightmares, whereas the first half had been entirely focused on other dreams - And thumbed through until she found what she was looking for. "'Regarding the Recently Deceased in Nightmares'," Raven murmured to herself. Peeking around, she saw that no one had heard her. Nodding to herself, she continued reading.

It detailed a lot of things. A lot of complicated things, which even Raven had to go back over in her mind a couple of times to grasp, in a few instances. However, she was getting the gist of it. In the end, though, she found with significant annoyance that this book was intended for the mindset of an entirely different race. Raven was close enough to human that she couldn't make any use of it; none of the concepts in the book, whether she could understand them or not, were meant for someone outside of the author's own kind. When it mentioned six lobes in the brain, Raven closed the book quietly, set it down, and gave a facepalm.

By the time she'd lifted her face from her hand, she found that all of the others had left. On the back of the couch was a note, in curvy letters and magenta ink: _Gone to play volleyball! Join us if you want Ray-Ray!_ Crumpling the note up, Raven tossed it into the trashcan. Going over to sit in front of the huge windows, Raven folded her legs, curled her fingers, and began to hover in place. Chanting under her breath, she did her best to ignore that foreboding feeling.

For a long time, she was successful. That feeling of dread was soon expelled from her, and Raven was able to meditate in peace. Her breathing calmed, her heartbeat slowed, and her mind was wiped of all concerns. She was tuned into everything and nothing at once. No single thoughts, no emotional dischord. She was truly calm, and devoid of worries. In time, Raven could feel her soul melding with the cosmic forces. As abstract as it sounded, it was simple - It was like the Universe itself had a soul, and Raven's soul was becoming intertwined with that great pulse of life and light. It was a truly, truly wonderful feeling, and one that Raven wouldn't surrender for anything in the world. At last, she felt like she was getting over the lingering disruption in her mental state.

Then, she heard a noise. A horrible, truly horrible noise. A noise like millions of tiny little teeth, gnawing on the Earth itself. Raven's eyes flew open, but there was nothing around her. Yet, it sounded like it was coming from outside...Way outside. Phasing through the window, Raven looked out at the horizon, just past the edges of Jump City's harbor. Unsure as to why she was so drawn, Raven exerted her soul self and traveled as fast as she could to the location she could hear the sound from.

She immediately wished she hadn't. All over the ground was a carpet of wriggling blackness, which, as Raven discovered through her magic, consisted of a legion of tiny creatures. Their sheer hunger shocked her. Their desire to obliderate and bring ruin was like few things she'd ever seen. As she looked up, by chance, Raven saw that the sky was turning pitch black. It started off as tiny, cold, black droplets, then a drizzle, before soon, down came a torrent of inky black goo, frigid cold. It robbed Raven of her breath, and left her with the most horrible feeling in the world - The feeling that she was witnessing something she had no control over, and could do nothing to abate.

At that moment, Raven's powers left her. With a scream, she fell down from the sky, landing in the midst of the squirming black creatures. Like little millipedes with razor-sharp legs, they crawled all over Raven, scratching at her and soon drawing blood. Her cape and leotard were no protection, and soon, they were drawing close to bone...

... ... ...

Raven's eyes flew open, and she gave a raspy wheeze. It was now late morning, and she was laying curled up on the floor. Looking around, she saw that none of the girls were back, still. She was beginning to feel sick from worry, when laughter broke out in the nearby hallway. The other four walked in, Cheshire silently tossing the volleyball up and down, Kole and Starfire giggling at something Jinx had apparently said.

For the time being, Raven decided that she wouldn't tell the others about this latest nightmare.

Jinx gave her a curious glance, but said nothing of the pale look on Raven's face.


	3. Chapter Three: The Verbal Warfare

Jinx was a clever girl. But there was more, _so_ much more to the extent of her knowledge than her wit and intuition. She got excellent grades at H.I.V.E., enough to buoy up her teammates Mammoth and Gizmo; the latter of which was too preoccupied with his classes involving technology to care about his other grades, and the former of which was as dumb as a stop sign. Hee hee. Raven had come up with a good one there.

Anyways, Jinx favored history, writing and language arts, drawing, and psychology classes. She was quick-witted, well-learned, and had an almost intuitive understanding of how others felt and acted in different circumstances. Thus, she knew immediately that Raven was hiding something when herself and the other girls came back in. Pale and slow to respond, it was plain to see that something was bothering Raven immensely. Jinx had a hunch that even Starfire could see it, felt that Kole could see it, and knew that Cheshire could see it.

However, since none of the others acted on it - Likely since Raven was so terrifying when upset - Jinx decided to take the initiative. "Hey Raven!" Once she looked up at her from her book, Jinx looped her arm through Raven's own and tugged her away. Setting her book down, Raven sighed and went along with her. _Good,_ Jinx thought, _She's making it easy for once._ Seeing that the other girls were watching TV, Jinx felt reasonably assured that she could get Raven to talk - And she fully intended to use quite drastic measures. This would be fun.

Soon, Raven and Jinx arrived in the training room. All around were heavy boulders, which Raven and Cyborg had worked together to bring in to add some dynamics to the training sessions. It was nothing compared to the H.I.V.E. training courses, but it had a charm that Jinx liked. "Well, Ray-Ray," Jinx giggled, "You ready to spar?" As black energy fields coated a number of small rocks, Jinx smiled wider. "I take that as a yes?" She backflipped over the first projectiles.

In a flash, Raven was flying closer to get better aim. Jinx snapped her fingers, and pink sparks flew to crackle about a large boulder. Atop it formed a crack that violently ruptured, spraying Raven with dust and debris and causing her to drop most of her projectiles. She sent the two left - Particularly large - Towards Jinx, and wiped at her eyes. Jinx proceeded to kick off of one, then the other stone, flying towards Raven.

Her kick was met by an energy barrier, before Jinx kicked off just in time to avoid the shield fragmenting into a number of projectiles. Landing atop a boulder, Jinx smiled. "Feel like talking about whatever happened, yet?" She watched as Raven's eyes glowed white, and two large boulders levitated in place beside the sorceress. "I take that as a no?" Giggling, she cartwheeled away to dodge the first boulder. Watching as the second was launched towards her, Jinx snapped her fingers. In a crackle of pink sparks, the huge rock cracked down the middle with a plume of dust and fell in two halves past her.

Right after that came a swift, spherical telekinetic field of Raven's make. Jinx swung to the side to dodge, still smiling. She continued swaying, dodging more and more. "You're getting too flustered, Ray-Ray," Jinx said as she frontflipped over a boulder. "I don't wanna make you more upset than you already are, but you're getting prettyyy sloppyyy!" She went on one hand and narrowed her profile to dodge two simultaneous shots. Lowering herself, she pushed off and flipped through the air, dodging more and more blasts. Bringing down her heel, she shattered the barrier Raven brought up, but was still sent flipping away.

Finally, Raven spoke to her. "I understand you want to help, Jinx," she said lowly, "But this isn't something you can help with." She sent a large pulse of energy, which was dodged by Jinx twirling to stand atop a boulder. "You're smart, but you don't know enough about me." Her eyes narrowed as she shattered the rock, but still missed Jinx due to a backflip to land atop a new perch. "This is something even I don't understand about my own mind, so I seriously doubt _you_ could get it." Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed. After five more shots, Jinx had dodged them all, and had leapt towards her again.

Throwing a kick for Raven's shoulder, Jinx expected her to raise a barrier. In that case, she'd just deflect herself off and reposition, like she'd already been doing. She expected to Raven to do either that, or counter with an energy blast in mid-kick; Jinx had enough energy stored up to knock out such an attack in time to reach her. She was anticipating any use of magic and how counter it as time seemed to slow down right before the impact.

What she _didn't_ expect was for Raven to grab her leg with both hands, spin once, twice, thrice, and hurl her down to the floor. Jinx narrowly rolled away and up to her feet to avoid a volley of quick blasts. "Getting more aggressive, are we? I guess I should've expected you to know jujutsu after training for so long with Robin." Jinx smirked. "This is _really_ fun. But what's not fun is how far down you're looking at me." She calmly stalked around Raven from the floor.

Pausing, Raven let her next energy field disappear before it was thrown. "Raven," Jinx said softly, "When I had that sleepover with you, I felt like we were becoming good friends. Like we could understand each other." She could see a softening look in Raven's eyes. "I know it's not the kind of thing you do, to talk about your feelings so openly...But you were there for me, and showed me that I have friends I can depend on.

"You showed me that with the Titans, with _you_, I'd always have a place I'd be understood," Jinx continued. Now, a new feeling arose in Raven's eyes. Was it...Shame? She was starting to hover lower and lower. "I understand if you don't want to talk now. But you _need_ to talk when you know the time is right - And you, _only_ you, will know when that time is." Eyebrow lifted, Jinx waited to see what Raven would say.

With a shakey sigh, Raven landed on her feet. Jinx walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Jinx asked, "Don't feel like saying anything?" Raven shook her head. "That's fine," Jinx said cheerfully. "We can listen to some music, I can cook up some curry, it'll aaall be fine!" She guided Raven out, towards the common room.

Jinx snickered. "I'll make sure to fix you _Little Prince_ curry, since you don't like my spicy curry." She snorted back a louder laugh at Raven's glare. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist. Let's listen to some music!" When the two reached the common room, they found the other girls still watching TV.

Starfire was absolutely fascinated by the Reality show on, Kole was explaining things to her whenever she asked, and Cheshire was draped over the couch arm, staring out the window. Taking out her iPod, Jinx asked Raven, "You like ZZ Top?" She smiled at the confused look.

Looking through he iPod for a song, Jinx soon gave Raven one earbud and plugged in her own. Cautiously, Raven plugged in her own.

Jinx promptly started _Tube Snake Boogie._


End file.
